For class this week I was assigned to read the article “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing” by Joseph Bizup. In the article Bizup introduces a new way of thinking about the sources students use when conducting research projects. Bizup suggests instead of looking at the sources based off what form they are, we should classify them by what they do for us when we’re writing. For example Bizup suggest four types of sources: Background, Exhibit, Argument, and Method.
Personally I think Bizup has a point. I think that too much emphasis is put on where we find our sources whether it be online, in print, a newspaper, and encyclopedia, etc.. Too many times I have been assigned a research project where I am required to get a certain number of each format of source with little regard for what the sources are saying or what role they serve in my research project. I agree with Bizup that teachers should spend more time requiring students to find sources that actually serve depth to what they are saying, than a certain number of every format.
With the internet becoming what it is today and the exceedingly fast extinction of print sources it is becoming harder and harder to monitor where information began. Because of this students should focus on finding sources that are going to help them make a POINT when writing their essays. Too many kids, including myself, find a huge amount of information but don’t really know what it’s saying or what to do with it. By default you see a huge amount of high school research papers that are just pages on pages of facts with absolutely no so what.